Casa boys best of area runners in x-country finals

The Casa Grande High School boys cross country team was the best team not named Maria Carrillo in the North Bay League cross country championships held last Friday at Spring Lake Park in Santa Rosa.

Maria Carrillo won its sixth straight championship with just 19 points, with Casa Grande a distance second with 61, followed by Santa Rosa (188), Ukiah (122), Montgomery (136), Windsor (138), Cardinal Newman (181) and Rancho Cotate (229).

Maria Carrillo’s girls did their thing for the 15th straight time, winning the league championship with 21 points. Casa Grande was third with 66 behind second-place Montgomery (61). Santa Rosa (92), Ukiah (138), Windsor (158), Cardinal Newman (282) and Rancho Cotate (248) rounded out the field.

Petaluma’s boys finished third in the Sonoma County League championships held Saturday, also at Spring Lake Park.

Piner dominated the run, totaling 21 points with Healdsburg second with 78 and Petaluma third with 97. The Trojans were followed by El Molino (182), Analy (113) and Sonoma Valley (116).

Petaluma’s girls were fifth behind Sonoma Valley (35), Piner (45), Analy (77) and Healdsburg (77). The Trojans totaled 116.

St. Vincent’s boys were fourth in the Coastal Mountain Conference championships held in Point Arena. The Mustangs totaled 113 points to finish behind winner Sonoma Academy (19), Rincon Valley Christian (57) and Technology (58).

NBL boys

Maria Carrillo, as usual, dominated the NBL boys run, taking seven of the top eight spots.

Ben Lawson led the way, running 15 minutes, 40 seconds over the 3.05-mile course.

Casa Grande’s Nolan Hosbein cracked the top 10, finishing 10th in 16:56.

The Gauchos received strong efforts from some of their younger runners, with junior Owen Hite 11th in 16:57, sophomore Logan Moon 13th in 16:59, junior Garrett Esponda, 15th in 17:09, freshman William Hite 16th in 17:10 and sophomore Andrew Gotshall 19th in 17:18. Senior Reed Canavan was 12th in 16:58.

Casa Grande was third in the junior varsity race with 66 points behind perfect winner Maria Carrillo (15) and Santa Rosa (63).

Sophomore Matthew Giroux led the Gauchos, finishing eighth in 18:01. Joshua Chang was 10th in 18:13, Chi Jimenez-Mandeville, 11th in 18:19, Alexis Frias 11th in 18:24, Dylan Santa 14th in 18:24 and Aaron Beaube 17th in 18:31.

NBL girls

Maria Carrillo’s dominance of NBL girls running continued as the Pumas swamped second-place Montgomery led by Sydnie Rivas, who won in 18:06.

Casa Grande received outstanding runs from seniors Siena Wigert and Grace Petraglia, with Wigert sixth in 19:43 and Petraglia seventh in 19:45.

Casa Grande freshman Abby Vestnys cracked the top 10 in the junior varsity race, finishing ninth in 22.24. Alessandra Alvarenga was 17th in 23.29 and Synne Landro 23rd in 24.86.

SCL boys

Piner is beginning to build its own dynasty in the SCL, winning its fourth championship in the last five years. Nathan Hayes led the Prospectors, winning the race in 15:58, 20 seconds faster than Sonoma Valley’s Justin Cox, second in 16:18.

Petaluma’s top finisher was junior Michael Pichardo, 12th in 17:50.

Colten Ronshausen ws 17th in 18:11, Dominic Butts 19th in 18:33, Nate Turner 24th in 18:59 and Tony Vitali 25th in 19:04.

Petaluma’s JV boys finished fourth with 99 points behind Piner’s perfect 15, El Molino (91) and Sonoma Valley (95).

Sophomore Charlie Weitzenburg led Petaluma, finishing 13th in 20:16. Tyler Spencer was 17th in 20:33.15, Zach Engler 18th in 20:36.69 and Peter Parelius 20th in 20:45.31.

SCL girls

Healdsburg’s Gabrielle Peterson stole the show, but Sonoma Valley won the pennant in the SCL girls run. Peterson ran away from the field, recording the all-time 10th-fastest time for a junior, winning in 17:53.

Junior Camille Flynn had the best time for Petaluma, finishing 14th in 21:31. Juliana Roper was right 16th in 21:42.

Petaluma’s Nicolette Starke had an outstanding junior varsity race, finishing third in 24:34. Teammate Fiona Mulligan was sixth in 25:25. Emma Dulven finished 20th in 31:41.47.

NCL II boys

St. Vincent had two runners among the top 25 NCL II finishers in the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships. Conrad Smith was 22nd in 21:38 and Jason Boyd 25th in 22:04. Just missing the top 25 were Conner Crosby, 26th in 23:49; Lucas Bedry, 27th in 23:58 and John Damato, 28th in 23:59.